KEYWORDS
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum Chaetomium cupreum
Trichoderma viride
Bacillus pumilus
Salicylic acid
Cucumber PCR
ABSTRACTThis study was aimed to isolate and identify the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (Foc) the causal agent of the Fusarium vascular wilt disease of cucumber in the middle and south of Iraq. The results of study indicated the presence of the pathogen with percentage of appearance 71.43% with frequency 46.43%. Molecular identification carried out using polymerase chain reaction technique indicated the presence 18 isolates of Foc pathogenic group I and 6 isolate of Foc pathogenic group II. Among these, the isolate Foc-b3 was most virulent under in vitro pathogenicity test on the cucumber seed and it exhibited 0% seed germination compared with control. An attempt of integrated management of F. oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum under in vitro conditions was also carried out in present study and a significant inhibition were reported on the application of various bioagents such as Chaetomium cupreum (Cc), Trichoderma viride (Tv) and Bacillus pumilus (Bp) on the potato dextrose agar (PDA). Further, under greenhouse conditions, combined application (tetrainoculums) of Cc+Tv+Bp+ Salicylic acid (Sa) was significantly reduced the percentage of the disease incidence and severity up to 0% as compared with the control where it was reported 97.50%, 75.72% respectively. Effect of this combination was also reported on the dry weight of the plants and significant improvement (0.975 gm/plant) was reported as compared to control (0.098 gm/plant).